Did you know that the elephant is the largest animal on the land? Here are some other interesting facts about this animal!
- It lives in Asia and Africa. African elephants have a height of 3-4 meters and a weight of 4000 to 7000 kilos, while the Asian elephants have a height of 2-3.5 meters and a weight of 3000 to 5000 kilograms, which means they are smaller.
- In both cases, males are larger than females.
- The pregnancy lasts 22 months, the longest of any mammals, while newborns are 85 cm high and weigh about 120 kg!
- Usually only one newborn is born during a pregnancy.
- Elephants live in matriarchal families (about 15 members) led by the eldest female elephant, or in herds made up of males.
- They sleep about 3-4 hours a day and travel long distances to search for water, food and mates.
- Despite their huge size and their heavy weight they can run at speeds of about 18 km/h!
- They have very sensitive skin and therefore they throw on it sand or mud that serves as sunscreen.
- They greet each other by wrapping their trunks.
- In the past, the elephant hunt for its valuable tusks, the famous ivory, was very usual and it was the main cause of the species being threatened with extinction.
- It is estimated that the number of African elephants is about 500,000 while the Asians about 40 to 50 thousand.
- They live about 70 years in their natural environment!