Animal Vegetable

The Population of the World’s Largest Land Animal is Dwindling

The magnificent elephant is the largest land animal in the world today. There are 3 species of these mammals, the African Bush elephant, the African Forest elephant and the Indian or Asian Elephant. Credited with a high level of intelligence and remarkable memory powers this splendid specimen has been poached for its tusks for several thousand years. All other species of elephants including the mammoths are extinct.

The African Bush Elephant otherwise called the African savanna elephant is the larger one of the 2 species of African elephants in existence now. They are also referred to as the bush elephants. This animal is terrestrial and lives in groups. A fully grown African Bush elephant can reach a height of 4 m and is about 7.3 m long. This massive creature weighs about 6000 to 9000kg. The largest elephant on record weighed about 12000 kg and was killed in Angola. The body of this elephant is mounted and exhibited in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. The Bush elephant moves at a sedate pace of 6 km/h and can attain a top speed of 25 km/h. It has a large head and two large ears, which are larger than those of the Indian elephant. The large ears are adapted to radiate the excess heat. This bush elephant’s skin is very thick and covered with irregular patches of hair.

The two tusks are prominent and both males and females have tusks unlike the Indian ones where only males have tusks. The most characteristic feature of the elephant is its trunk which is actually its elongated nose and upper lip combined together. This strong organ is entirely made of strong muscle. The elephant can use its trunk to uproot trees and is capable of toppling a heavy truck. The tip of the trunk is very sensitive and an elephant can be gentle enough to use its trunk to split open a coconut without crushing the fleshy portion inside. The elephants are herbivorous and the diet would vary according to the habitat and they eat grass, herbs and leaves of trees. The elephant has 4 large molars which wear off and grow up to 3 times in the lifetime of an elephant. It can live up to a ripe old age of 70 in the wild and a good 10 years longer in captivity. There have been many instances of elephants dying of starvation as the teeth have worn off for the last time and it is unable to eat food. However they manage to prolong in captivity as they are fed food that needs to be just swallowed. The animal needs to ingest around 200 kg of vegetable matter every day. Most of this is defecated without fully being digested. This helps in dispersion of plant seeds and contributes towards maintaining the ecosystem. The elephant can drink up to 190 liters of water in a day.

A typical herd is made up of females that are related. There are mothers, daughters, aunts, cousins and grandmothers, with the eldest female leading the herd. The males form bachelor herds and very often break off alone to lead solitary lives. They search out the female herds during the mating season. However, with a keen sense of memory, they are able to recognize every single member of the family without fail. A birth in the family attracts curious members of the herd who touch and fondle the little one. The gestation period is a good 22 months and the mother gives birth to a single calf weighing about 100 kg. When an old member dies the entire herd gathers around the corpse as though paying their last respects and grieving collectively. Due to the large size of the brain the elephants are credited with extraordinary intelligence.

It is important that awareness is created to protect the elephant from being poached anymore as that could lead to the extinction of the only remaining species. The World Wildlife Fund is doing its bit towards the conservation of these magnificent specimens.

Animal, Vegetable, Mythical