Wild Animals Charm Page

Elephant

The African elephant weighing up to 6000 kg (6.6 tons) and measuring up to 3.3 m (10 ft.) at the shoulder, is the world’s largest land mammal. Elephants can live to be over 70 years old. They are highly sensitive and caring animals. The elephant sleeps standing up because of excellent support their very straight legs give them. Elephant’s feet are covered in a soft padding that help uphold their weight so they can walk almost silently. Elephants listen by putting trunks on the ground and carefully positioning their feet and mostly communicate through low frequency sounds called “rumbling. Elephants are capable of producing and perceiving sounds one to two octaves lower than the human hearing limit. They can pick up sub-sonic rumblings made by other elephants, through vibrations in the ground. An elephant’s skin is an inch thick. Their tusks are an elephant’s incisor teeth and are used for defence, digging for water, and lifting things. The elephant’s trunk is able to sense the size, shape and temperature of an object. An elephant uses its trunk to lift food and suck up water then pour it into its mouth. Elephants can swim – they use their trunk to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.

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