Do elephants. Asian elephants: description, features, lifestyle, nutrition and interesting facts. Elephants don't sweat

16.06.2019

In our article, we want to talk about the famous giants, which are the second largest land animals. Meet the Asian elephants.

Appearance of animals

The Asian (Indian) elephant is largely different from those individuals that live in Africa. An Indian animal weighs up to five and a half tons. Its height is 2.5-3.5 m. Elephants have fairly modest tusks about one and a half meters long and weighing up to twenty-five kilograms. If the animal simply does not have them, then it is called makhna.

Asian elephants have small ears, pointed and elongated at the ends. They boast a powerful physique. The legs are relatively short and fairly thick. The Indian, or Asiatic, elephant has five hooves on its front limbs, and only four on its hind limbs. Its strong, powerful body is guarded and protected by thick, wrinkled skin. On average, its thickness is 2.5 centimeters. The softest thin areas are inside the ears and near the mouth.

The color of animals can vary from dark gray to brown. Albino Asian elephants are very rare. Such unique animals are highly valued in Siam, they are even worshiped there. Their main feature is light skin, on which there are lighter spots. Albino eyes are also unusual, they have a light yellow tint. There are even specimens that have pale red skin and whitish hair growing on their backs.

The lack of tusks Asian elephants and their small size in those individuals who have them saved the animals from ruthless destruction, as happened in Africa.

habitats

Wild Asian elephants live in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Borneo, and also in Brunei. They live in national parks, hard-to-reach areas and nature reserves. Elephants are very fond of ruining rice plantations, as well as thickets of sugar cane, and picking banana trees. For this reason, they are considered pests. Agriculture, which is why they prefer to push them to distant territories, so as not to lose crops.

Indian elephants adore subtropical and tropical forests (broad-leaved) with dense thickets of shrubs and bamboo. In summer they prefer to climb mountains. In extreme heat, the giants flap their ears, thus cooling their bodies.

Asian elephant: lifestyle

It's hard to believe, but these are very clever animals. With such a significant weight, they balance perfectly, although they look extremely clumsy. Despite their impressive size, they famously climb the forested slopes of the mountains to a height of 3.6 thousand meters. Of course, without seeing it, it's hard to imagine. Special structure the soles of their feet enable them to travel safely over swampy areas, although they are so careful that they will periodically check the reliability of the ground under their feet with strong blows trunk.

The Asian elephant is the second largest land animal, which causes genuine respect for him. Females live in small groups of up to ten adults and young. different ages. The leader is the oldest female, who cares about the safety of her entire herd.

Females tend to help each other. For example, when one of them begins to give birth, all the others stand around her and do not move away until the cub appears and gets to its feet. In such a simple way, they protect the mother and baby from attacks by predators. Newborn baby elephants usually stay near their mother, but they can easily eat from another female who has milk.

The female gives birth to only one cub weighing up to one hundred kilograms. Pregnancy lasts 22 months. Babies are born with small tusks, which fall out in their second year of life.

Having reached the age of ten or sixteen years, the males leave their mother forever, but the females remain in the herd. In some ways, the way of life of these animals is similar to the human. By the age of 12-16, elephants are able to reproduce, but they become adults only by the age of twenty.

How long do they live?

Elephants can be safely attributed to centenarians. They live 60-80 years. An interesting fact is that in the wild, individuals die not from age and disease, but simply from hunger. This situation is due to the fact that in their entire life their teeth change only four times. All renewals take place until the age of forty, and later they no longer grow. The old ones are gradually falling into disrepair. And now, by the age of seventy, the teeth become completely bad, the animal can no longer chew them, and therefore loses every opportunity to eat.

Indian, or Asian, elephant: food

I must say that the diet of wild elephants depends entirely on where they live. In general, animals prefer ficus leaves. an important role is played by the fact that the season is dry or rainy.

Elephants are very fond of all kinds of herbs, leaves, fruits, they even eat the crown of trees, because they draw minerals from it. During the day, the animal eats from 300 to 350 kilograms of grass and leaves. They have a lot of water. Elephants generally prefer marsh plants. But African individuals adore salt, they find it in the ground.

Feeding in captivity

Asian (African) elephants, living in captivity, feed mainly on hay and grass. Animals love sweets. Preference is given to apples, bananas, beets, carrots. Elephants also like flour products, especially cookies and bread. In the zoo, they eat up to thirty kilograms of hay per day, plus another fifteen kilograms of fruits, vegetables, ten kilograms of flour products. They can also feed animals with cereals, for example, giving up to ten kilograms of grain. Be sure to include vitamins and salt in the diet of elephants.

Behavioral features

Elephants are excellent swimmers and easily overcome long distances. Animals sleep only four hours, this is quite enough for them. Elephants need water, and they drink a lot of it (up to 200 liters per day). As a rule, for this they go to the source, they only quench their thirst according to seniority. Sometimes babies get just dirty slurry instead of water. This happens during a period of intense heat, when the reservoirs dry up. But during periods when there is a lot of liquid, elephants bathe, watering each other with their trunks. Maybe that's how they play.

Frightened elephants run fast enough, reaching speeds of up to 50 kilometers an hour. At the same time, they raise their tails up, thus giving a signal of danger. Animals have a highly developed sense of smell and hearing.

Indian and have absolutely different character. Asian individuals are very friendly and treat people well. In general, they are much easier to tame. It is these elephants that help people transport goods and perform heavy work in the southeastern countries of Asia. If you have ever seen an elephant in a circus, then do not doubt that this is an Asian animal.

Absolutely all varieties of elephants are endangered, and therefore are listed in the Red Book.

You probably don't know that:

When swimming underwater, elephants use their trunks to breathe.
At the end of the trunk of an Asian animal there is one finger-like outgrowth. With its help, the elephant eats.
AT Hard times animals can cry like people, while they make low sounds that we cannot hear.
Elephants can distinguish each other's voices at a distance of 19 kilometers.
These are the only animals that bury their dead relatives. Having found the remains, the herd together hides the bones in the ground.
The trunk is very important for the animal, it eats with it, breathes and sniffs, takes out the leaves of trees. Injuring him, the elephant may die of hunger.

Instead of an afterword

The elephant is an amazing and beautiful animal. Many of his habits are similar to human ones. Not without reason, for many centuries, animals have been and remain faithful helpers of people. In gratitude, we should make every effort so that these cute creatures do not disappear from the face of the Earth.

Highly high intelligence and a good memory, as a result of which they are easy to train.

Elephants used to be used for military purposes, but today they are depicted on money, logos famous brands, as well as on coats of arms and flags.

In this article, you will learn interesting facts about elephants in general, as well as about their physical and moral features in particular.

how long do elephants live

Before answering this question, it is important to decide in what conditions the elephant lives.

For example, free elephants live for about 60 years. But in captivity they live up to 80 years of age.

This is due to the fact that in the wild elephants constantly face dangers, natural disasters and poaching.

An interesting fact is that one of the most famous elephants named Lin Wang lived 86 years. Thanks to this, he got into the Guinness Book of Records as an elephant that lived in captivity. the largest number years.

Lin Wang participated in military operations and performed at the circus arena, however most spent his life at the zoo.

elephant pregnancy

Interesting Facts related to elephant pregnancy are very popular, so let's understand the basics of this issue.

First of all, it must be said that the female elephant can only become pregnant on certain days of the year, although they can mate at any time. Elephant Pregnancy Lasts Longer Than Everyone land mammals, and is as much as 22 months.

A newborn baby elephant weighs about 100 kg and is born completely blind. The next 10 years of his life, he is still considered small, and needs constant protection.

Only after reaching the age of 15, elephants can live independently and create their own families.

What do elephants eat

As a rule, elephants eat leaves and grass. However, during the dry and rainy season, fruits, berries and even tree bark can also become food for them.

AT vivo these giants daily eat approximately 300 kg of vegetation. Elephants spend about 16 hours a day searching for and eating food.

However, in captivity, they eat half, and sometimes three times less. Elephants are happy to eat vegetables, bread and even cereals.

Elephants, for the normal functioning of the body, need a lot of fluid, so they drink 100-300 liters of water per day.

When they are sick, they drink even more.

Trunk, tusks and ears

Below are interesting facts about the most visible parts of the body of elephants.

An elephant's trunk does not have a nasal bone.
Due to the fact that the elephant's trunk consists of 150,000 different muscles, it has an extremely high flexibility and strength.
At one time, an elephant can collect 6-8 liters of water with its trunk, in order to then pour it into its mouth.
An elephant easily lifts up to 300 kg with its trunk.
The length of the trunk is approximately 1.5 meters.
Thanks to the trunk, elephants manage to swim across rivers easily and simply. To do this, they are completely immersed in water, and the trunk is held high above the surface.
If elephants have to dig something or carry heavy objects, they, in addition to the trunk, also use tusks. The length of the tusks is from 2 to 2.5 m, with a weight of about 100 kg.
The ear of an elephant weighs 80-90 kg, and is an excellent temperature regulator for this animal. During the hot part of the day, elephants flap their ears to the sides to avoid overheating. In cold weather, on the contrary, they try to press their ears to the body in order to keep warm longer.

Are elephants afraid of mice?

An interesting fact is that there is a strong opinion that elephants are afraid of mice. The legend says that the elephant is afraid that the mouse would not get into his trunk, and would not violate the main processes of life.

For the first time, such a statement was made by the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder. However, modern scientists have completely dispelled this myth.

In fact, elephants are simply annoyed by any sudden movements near them. That is, if the mouse sat in one place, it would in no way disturb the elephant.

smart animals

Scientists have proven that elephants have an extremely developed self-awareness and an extremely good memory. Moreover, they, like dolphins and monkeys, are able to distinguish their reflection in the mirror.

As for memory, one interesting fact cannot be ignored. The fact is that elephants accurately remember the many kilometers of paths along which they walk, and then long time walk on them.

Elephant intelligence

The brain of an elephant weighs about 5 kg, which makes it the largest among animals.
Elephants are capable of experiencing a variety of things. Therefore, joy, sorrow and compassion are all well known to them.
Elephants are highly trainable and can follow many commands from humans.
Through ultrasound, elephants can warn their relatives of various dangers.
An interesting fact is that elephants have their own burial ritual. When one of the members of the herd dies, his fellow tribesmen throw dead body earth and stones. After that, they sit next to the deceased for several more days, thus expressing their grief.

Some more interesting facts about elephants

Did you know that an elephant's sense of smell is 4 times better than a bloodhound's?
However, the vision of these mammals is much worse. An elephant can see any object at a maximum distance of 25 m. In ancient times, hunters sat on a tamed elephant and penetrated into the middle of the herd in order to look out for a victim.
The heart of an elephant beats at a speed of 30 beats per minute, and weighs about 25 kg.
In the past, elephants were used for combat purposes. Their formidable appearance and gigantic size terrified the enemy. However, then inventive minds came up with an antidote: they smeared the pigs with a combustible substance, set them on fire, and sent them to the elephants. The screech of pigs and the frantic speed with which the pigs rushed towards the elephants led the latter into a panic.
Elephants renew their teeth every 10 years.
By one working tusk, you can determine whether the elephant is right-handed or left-handed.
Elephants spend only about 3 hours a day sleeping, and spend the rest of the time in search of food.
Males prefer to live alone, while female elephants live in families.
If the herd of elephants begins to starve, then the female elephants separate from it and look for food on their own.
On average, in her entire life, an elephant gives birth to about 9 cubs.
And this is a very interesting fact. Females do not give birth to their young alone. During childbirth, another elephant is always present, who immediately takes the newborn away so that the mother does not accidentally crush him.
Elephants have the ability to hear sounds through the vibration of their legs at a distance of 50 km.
An elephant's tooth weighs 3 kg.
Immediately after birth, baby elephants do not know how to control their trunk. And only at the age of two, this thing begins to obey them.
If an elephant falls ill, his relatives take care of him and bring him food.
If an elephant accidentally finds a lonely baby elephant, he will “adopt” him, and not leave one to certain death.
When an elephant's teeth wear out, it dies.
The pattern of veins on elephants' ears is unique and can be compared to a human fingerprint.
Thanks to their good memory, elephants can long years remember your offenders and, if necessary, take revenge on them. So do not offend these crumbs.
Elephants cannot jump.
An interesting fact: only an elephant, among all animals, can stand on its head.
Fun fact: Elephants like to drink beer, and they even know how to make their own mash. To do this, they throw various fruits into the pit, and then wait until they begin to ferment.
Elephants are unpredictable and can attack for no apparent reason. Therefore, no matter how cute animals seem to us, remember that in wild nature There are laws that should never be broken.

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The elephant is the largest land animal of the class mammals, such as chordates, proboscis order, elephant family (lat. Elephantidae).

Elephant - description, characteristics and photo.

Elephants are giants among animals. The height of the elephant is 2 - 4 m. The weight of the elephant is from 3 to 7 tons. Elephants in Africa, especially savannas, often weigh up to 10 - 12 tons. The powerful body of an elephant is covered with thick (up to 2.5 cm) skin of brown or gray color with deep wrinkles. Elephant cubs are born with sparse bristles, adults are practically devoid of vegetation.

The head of the animal is quite large with ears of noteworthy size. Elephant ears have a fairly large surface, they are thick at the base with thin edges, as a rule, they are a good regulator of heat exchange. Fanning the ears allows the animal to increase the cooling effect. An elephant's foot has 2 kneecaps. Such a structure makes an elephant the only mammal who can't jump. In the center of the foot is a fat cushion that springs up with every step, which allows these powerful animals to move almost silently.

Elephant's trunk is amazing and unique organ formed by the fused nose and upper lip. Tendons and over 100,000 muscles make him strong and flexible. Trunk performs a series important functions, while providing the animal with breathing, smelling, touching and grabbing food. Through the trunk, elephants protect themselves, water themselves, eat, communicate and even raise their offspring. Another "attribute" of appearance is the tusks of an elephant. They grow throughout life: the more powerful the tusks, the older their owner.

The tail of an elephant is about the same length as the hind legs. The tip of the tail is framed by coarse hair that helps to repel insects. The voice of an elephant is specific. The sounds that an adult animal makes are called boars, lowing, whispering and roaring of an elephant. The life expectancy of an elephant is approximately 70 years.

Elephants can swim very well and love water procedures, and their average speed movement on land reaches 3-6 km / h. When running for short distances, the speed of an elephant sometimes increases to 50 km / h.

Elephant types.

In the family of living elephants, there are three main species belonging to two genera:

Species often interbreed and produce quite viable offspring.

Genus indian(Asian) elephants (lat. Elephas) includes one species - Indian elephant(lat. Elephas maximus). He is smaller than the Savannah, but has a more powerful physique and short legs. Color - from brown to dark gray. hallmark of this species of elephants - small quadrangular auricles and one process at the end of the trunk. The Indian or Asian elephant is common in tropical and sub tropical forests India, China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Indian elephant

Where and how do elephants live?

African elephants live almost throughout hot Africa: in Namibia and Senegal, in Kenya and Zimbabwe, in Guinea and the Republic of the Congo, in Sudan and South Africa, elephants in Zambia and Somalia feel great. The main part of the livestock, unfortunately, is forced to live in national reserves so as not to become the prey of barbarian poachers. The elephant lives on any terrain, but tries to avoid the desert zone and too dense rainforest, preferring the savannah zone.

Indian elephants live in the northeast and south of India, in Thailand, China and on the island of Sri Lanka, they live in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia. Unlike their counterparts from African continent, Indian elephants like to settle in wooded area, preferring bamboo thickets of the tropics and dense shrubs.

For about 16 hours a day, elephants are busy absorbing food, while eating about 300 kg of vegetation with appetite. The elephant eats grass (including cattail, papyrus in Africa), rhizomes, bark and leaves of trees (for example, ficus in India), wild fruits, marula and even. The diet of an elephant depends on the habitat, as in Africa and India grow different trees and herbs. These animals do not bypass agricultural plantations, causing significant damage to crops, sweet potato and other crops with their visits. Their tusks and trunk help them get food, and their molars help them chew. Elephant teeth change as they grind down.

In the zoo, elephants are fed hay and greens (in in large numbers), and also give animals vegetables, fruits, root crops: cabbage, apples, beets, watermelons, boiled, oats, bran, willow branches, bread, as well as bananas and other crops, a favorite delicacy of elephants. For a day in the wild, an elephant eats about 250-300 kg of food. In captivity, elephant food intake is as follows: about 10 kg of vegetables, 30 kg of hay and 10 kg of bread.

Adult individuals are well-known "water drinkers". An elephant drinks about 100-300 liters of water per day, so these animals are almost always near water bodies.

Elephant breeding.

Elephants form family herds (9-12 individuals), including a mature leader, her sisters, daughters and immature males. The female elephant is a hierarchical link in the family, she matures by the age of 12, at 16 she is ready to bear offspring. Sexually mature males leave the herd at the age of 15-20 years (African at 25) and become solitary. Every year, males fall into an aggressive state caused by an increase in testosterone, lasting about 2 months, so quite serious clashes between clans, ending in injuries and mutilations, are not uncommon. True, this fact has its plus: competition with experienced counterparts stops young male elephants from mating early.

Elephant breeding occurs regardless of the season. The male elephant approaches the herd when he feels the female is ready to mate. loyal to each other regular time, males arrange mating battles, as a result of which the winner is admitted to the female. An elephant's pregnancy lasts 20-22 months. The birth of an elephant takes place in a society that is created by the females of the herd, surrounding and protecting the woman in labor from accidental danger. Usually one baby elephant weighing about a centner is born, sometimes there are twins. After 2 hours, the newborn baby elephant stands up and sucks mother's milk with pleasure. After a few days, the cub easily travels with its relatives, grabbing the mother's tail with its trunk. Milk feeding lasts up to 1.5-2 years, and all lactating females participate in the process. By 6-7 months, vegetable food is added to milk.

Elephants are the largest and strongest living land mammals. Now there are 2 species of elephants in the detachment - African and Indian, but more recently, by biological standards, there were more of them. Mammoths died out during the ice age, and American mastodons, most likely, just before the arrival of the first people in America. The skeleton of elephants is massive, weighing about 15% of total weight elephant. The skin is covered with sparse hair, but baby elephants are born more shaggy.

The family belongs to the proboscis order. The boneless, muscular trunks of elephants are fused and highly elongated upper lip and nose. It ends, depending on the type of animal, with one or two protrusions, which, while sucking in air through the nostrils, can be used as fingers for grasping small objects. Elephants use their trunks to send food and water into their mouths, shower themselves with dust, douse, trumpet and make many other sounds. This sensitive organ, vital for them, turns in all directions, trapping the finest odors, and when there is a threat of damage, it twists tightly. The trunk has great strength, as it consists of very developed muscles. An elephant can lift a ton with one trunk.

An elephant is considered an intelligent animal, but its brain, although large in absolute size, is disproportionately small in comparison with its huge body weight. A short and thick muscular neck is necessary to support the huge tusked head, but allows only limited head movement. Small eyes are surrounded by long thick eyelashes. Large fan-shaped ears, like fans, constantly move the hot tropical air. The legs are like vertical columns, the toes are pointing down so that the heels are raised off the ground and the weight of the body rests mainly on a thick pad behind the toes. The short tail ends in a stiff tassel, and the skin - often 2.5 cm thick - is covered with sparse coarse hair.

The huge tusks of an elephant are the second pair of upper incisors grown to an incredible size, and a significant part of each of these teeth is deeply immersed in the bone tissue of the skull. The small milk tusks of a young animal are replaced by permanent ones that continue to grow throughout life. The molar tooth is formed as if by a stack of transverse vertical plates, each of which is equipped with its own roots with pulp, and all together they are combined with cement into a large enamel-dentine block about 30 cm long and weighing 3.6-4.1 kg. In total, an elephant has 24 molars, but one of them this moment only one functions on each side of the upper and lower jaws. When it is worn out, it falls out, and another, larger one, moves forward in its place. The last, and largest, molar takes its place when the animal is approx. 40 years, and serves another 20 years, until the death of the owner. Under favorable conditions, elephants live for more than 60 years.

Elephants spend most of their lives on the road. They walk slowly, eating bark and foliage from trees, and spend the night, if possible, near water bodies. It is not necessary to think that the elephant is a very clumsy animal, it is able to move across the plain with amazing ease. Moreover, even a swamp is not an obstacle to him - their limbs are designed so that they are not sucked in. They also overcome burning steppes and snow without hesitation. Despite the massive build and amazing strength, the movements of the elephant are surprisingly smooth and graceful. With a normal rhythmic step, he walks at a speed of 6.4 km / h, and at a distance of approx. 50 m can accelerate to 40 km / h. However, the elephant is not capable of galloping and jumping. A ditch too wide to step over becomes an insurmountable obstacle for him. Elephants swim well, but, of course, they cannot dive. They can swim slowly all day long, without stopping, maintaining a speed of approximately 1.6 km / h in water for almost 6 hours.

Elephants live in herds - from 15 to 30 elephants and little elephants (an elephant gives birth on average 4-5 times in her life to one elephant), several young elephants and one adult leader. In Africa, you can find herds of several hundred elephants. In such a herd, all relatives. It is very rare to see a few elephants or a couple of elephants without their own herd. Such loners are quite dangerous, as they are much more aggressive and bolder than their fellows living in herds. Elephants live, like humans, on average 50-70 years. The animal rarely dies of old age. In nature, they can be attacked by various predators - lions, hyenas, wild dogs ...

Between the eye and ear of an elephant is a slit-like temporal gland, the purpose of which is not precisely established. When it is activated, the forehead of the animal swells, a dark oily liquid flows out of the gap; this indicates a state of extreme arousal (in India it is called "must"), apparently of a sexual nature. As a rule, "must" is observed in males, but is generally characteristic of animals of both sexes. It first appears in young elephants around the age of 21, and disappears completely by the age of 50. During the must, elephants become very aggressive and begin to “hunt” for females. Often in a population, only 50% of elephants enter the must age. The duration of the must ranges from 1 day to 4 months. Elephants kept in captivity are released from all types of work for this time.

Females begin to mate only when they reach 18 years of age, and males only when they acquire mass and strength sufficient to compete for females. AT mating season the male and female spend several weeks together in the forest away from the herd. female wild Indian elephant after a pregnancy lasting from 18 to 22 months, usually in the spring she gives birth to a baby elephant weighing 64-97 kg. If the mother is disturbed, she carries him with her trunk to safe place, and during the first weeks of the cub's life, several members of the herd guard it day and night from predators. Until almost the age of five, the baby elephant sucks milk from the mother's nipples between her front legs with her mouth, and then begins to feed with the help of her trunk. Usually an elephant gives birth to one cub, in total she brings 5-12 babies during her life, but often she is followed by 2 baby elephants of different ages, since she can bring offspring once every three years.

The African elephant is much larger than the Indian one. It was once widespread across much of sub-Saharan Africa, from the lowland savannas to 3,000 m above sea level; until now, it is common in some remote areas of the continent and reserves. The species under consideration is divided into three subspecies: South African, considered typical, East African and Sudanese. They are found in the steppes of Africa, from north to south. They are also found in Egypt, but they are not found in the very south of the mainland. By appearance this animal is not difficult to distinguish from the Asian elephant. The height at the withers of the female is on average 2.1 m, of an adult male - 3-3.9 m. Huge ears 1.1 m wide, together with the head, reach a span of more than 3 m. The trunk, up to 2.4 m long, bears two outgrowths at the end. On the hind legs there are 3 fingers with peculiar nails, on the front legs - 4 each. Both females and males are armed with well-developed tusks. In the former, they are thinner, up to 1.8 m long, while in the latter they reach three meters in length with a mass of up to 103 kg each.

The normal coloration of the skin is dark gray, but African elephants often cover themselves with dry earth, so they sometimes look brick red. Like their Asian relatives, the animals usually roam in herds of up to about 50 individuals, however, temporary accumulations of more than a hundred elephants have been observed. Both males and females African elephant have tusks, however, of different sizes. An adult elephant grows up to 4 meters and weighs about 7 tons. Elephants are thick-skinned animals, in the truest sense of the word - in some places, the thickness of their skin can reach 3.5-4 centimeters. However, this does not prevent her from remaining extremely sensitive, feeling the presence of even the most small insects. To protect themselves from their stinging bites or to cool themselves, elephants douse themselves with water, roll in mud or dust.

Indian elephants are smaller - up to 3 meters, and weigh up to 5 tons. The ears are relatively small. Three subspecies are distinguished: the Bengal, the relatively small Ceylon, and the Sumatran, an even smaller animal, relatively slender and devoid of tusks. The Indian elephant has smaller ears and tusks than an African elephant, a convex forehead, and only one “finger” at the end of the trunk. The tusks of males reach a length of 2.4 m, but they are never longer than 3 m, the record weight of one tusk is 72 kg. In females, the tusks are usually inconspicuous, rarely protruding from the mouth. On average, an adult elephant weighs 3.5 tons with a height of 2.7 m at the withers, but the mass of especially large males reaches 6 tons with a height of 3 m.

Indian elephants are much more peaceful than African ones, so people often turn them into their helpers. Most often, elephants are used in logging, where they not only carry heavy trunks of cut trees, but also perform complex work, laying sawn boards in a certain order, load and unload barges, pull logs out of the water.
Like humans, elephants can be right-handed or left-handed, making the most of their right or left tusk. Each elephant has its own, individual shape of the tusk, its dimensions and angle of inclination, which greatly facilitates the "recognition" of individual individuals for researchers. The main use of the Indian elephant is hauling logs, especially teak trunks, from mountain slopes that are inaccessible to mechanical types transport. The animal easily drags logs weighing 2 tons, and, if necessary, four tons. Usually elephants work together, pulling huge logs down the slope without the prodding of the mahout.

Elephants do not breed well in captivity, so to use them as work force catch and train young wild animals aged 15-20 years. However, if an elephant is over 18 years old, resisting trappers, it gets seriously injured, and it will never achieve such obedience from it as from individuals that are caught at a younger age.

wild elephants are caught different ways. Lonely people are surrounded by a group of tame elephants with drovers and chased day and night until the animal allows ropes and chains to be thrown over itself. group of elephants locals with torches, sticks and mallets surround and crowd into a round paddock of bamboo. In Karnataka, "elephant pits" of precisely calculated size are used so that the animals that fall into them do not injure themselves while trying to escape. In Nepal, Bengal and Sri Lanka, wild elephants are sometimes caught with a lasso attached to a tame animal.

Each young elephant is assigned a male trainer, and they stay together for life. The boy bathes his ward every day, polishes his tusks with sand and teaches the animal useful skills. After the working day, the elephant goes to the forest and feeds there most of the night. In the morning, the trainer finds his sleeping pupil and carefully wakes him up, because a sharp wake-up call can put the elephant in a bad mood for the whole day. Training begins at about 14 years of age, by the age of 19 the animal is ready for light work, but it is attracted to heavy work only after 25 years. As a pack animal, the elephant is unprofitable, since the average load that it can carry does not exceed 270 kg; True, they say that the Japanese during the Second World War transported 4 tons of ammunition on each animal. The cabin, blanket and harness carried by a smartly dressed elephant often weigh half a ton.

According to African legends, all the elephants of the herd come to die at the same time. certain place, but such cemeteries have never been found. However, in Angola at the beginning of the 18th century. huge piles of elephant tusks were found, often containing more than four tons of ivory, topped with wooden idols and human skulls.

The sign language of elephants is very expressive. An important signal is splayed huge ears:

"I am angry!". We must immediately run away, because an angry elephant tramples the enemy, grabs it with its trunk and throws it. And when an animal is frightened by something, it makes a sound that is very reminiscent of a screech. A frightened elephant is also not safe. He can run in a panic, destroying everything in his path.
Fear and horror, panic and trumpet blaring - this is the sudden rage that sometimes happens to elephants. And then the elephant is obsessed with the thirst for destruction and murder. He sweeps away everything in his path - breaks houses, fences, pulls out trees, kills animals and people that come across to him. Some raged for years, and then people were forced to leave their settlements. Mad elephants come across in India and Ceylon, much less often in Africa. There are several versions of this behavior: a virus, intoxication with some berries, or rage after an insect or snake bite. But until the end it is still unknown what is the true cause.

Handsome - such is the elephant for many. But the elephant is one of the ten most dangerous animals on our planet. No need to think at all that this is only a kind and harmless animal. Elephants are among the four most intelligent animals, which also includes a monkey, a dog and a dolphin. Elephants have excellent memories. The man who treated him badly, the elephant remembers all his life. At a meeting, he may even try to take revenge. He remembers the places in which he felt bad, and tries not to appear there again. Usually in the wild, elephants themselves try not to mess with a person, bypass him. But do not get too close to the elephant, it is better not to provoke him and be as careful as possible. Still, this is not a domestic animal, but a wild animal, unpredictable and dangerous.

Traditionally, there are two types of elephants: Asian and African. Unfortunately, due to many reasons, such as poaching and habitat destruction, the population of these majestic animals is steadily declining.

Elephants are the largest land animals living in South-East Asia and Africa in tropical forests and savannahs. Traditionally, there are two types of elephants: Asian and African.Unfortunately, due to many reasons, such as poaching and habitat destruction, the population of these majestic animals is steadily declining.

Believe me, there is still a lot you do not know about these beautiful, intelligent and peaceful mammals:

1. Female elephants can produce offspring up to 50 years old every 2-4 years. Typically, twinselephants are rarely born, more often one baby elephant is born. Elephant females have the longest periodpregnancy from all mammals - 22 months.

2. Most big elephant in the world weighed a record 12 thousand kilograms, and reached a height of as much as four meters.

3. Unlike most mammals, in which milk teeth change to permanent teeth, only oneSince elephants are polyphyodonts, that is, they change their teeth throughout their lives.

4. Along with humans, monkeys, magpies and dolphins, elephants can recognize themselves in the mirror.

5. Elephants can receive seismic signals using sensitive cells in their legs. These vibrationscaused by impacts on the ground, pass into the middle ear of the elephant through the bones of the forelimbs. Catchinga seismic alarm signal, the elephant learns about the approach of a predator and becomes in a protective stance.

6. Elephants are the largest animals in the world, but compared to whales, theymore like gnomes. For comparison: the tongue of a blue whale weighs as much as one adult elephant.

7. Elephants can only move forward or backward and cannot gallop or jump. Elephant -such a heavy animal that it is unable to lift all four limbs off the ground simultaneously.

8. Contrary to popular myth, elephants are not afraid of mice. However, they are afraid of ants and bees. ATAs a result, farmers in some African countries use bee hives to protect their fields from elephant raids.

9. Hyraxes are the closest relatives of modern elephants. These small, dense, herbivoresmammals are often mistaken for rodents.

10. Elephants, like people, are capable of very wide range emotions. They experience a sense of loss, grief,also capable of crying. Elephants remember and mourn their loved ones even many years aftertheir deaths. When a man named Lawrence Anthony died, the author of The Elephant's Whisper, who saved the lives of manyanimals, a whole herd of elephants came to his house to say goodbye to their friend.

11. Elephants make several types of sounds, the most famous of which is a loud trumpet sound. So elephantsshow that they are worried, grieving or showing aggression. Elephants can hear each otherdistance up to 10 kilometers.

12. It is popularly believed that elephants have an excellently developed rumple. This assertion hasreal basis. The fact is that elephants form an image of a familiar spatial environment, socalled a cognitive map. The presence of a good memory in elephants is also indicated by their abilitytrack the whereabouts of members of your family group.

13. An elephant's trunk has over 40,000 muscles. Despite the fact that the elephant trunk is very large (its weightis about 180 kilograms), the elephant is very clever with it and can capture very smallthings like rice grains.

14. The main reason for the mass killings of elephants by poachers is their tusks. Although scientists have long proventhat the tusks are made of dentin, a substance similar to bone and having no valuable properties.

15. Stories that elephants, eating the ripe fruits of the marula tree, get drunk and begin to rage, arepure myths. Animals do not pick up overripe fruits that have fallen to the ground, in whichcontains the most alcohol. Even if an elephant takes a marula fruit, it will need to eat about 1400pieces to get drunk.