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To both adults and children alike, the elephant is one of the
greatest mysteries of life. When one sees its huge size, one’s first
instinct would probably be to run away from it. But just take a look
at and into its eyes. One is sure to do a volte-face and stay stuck.
The gentleness that oozes out of an elephant’s eye is beyond
description. There is a gentleness that defies its size and build.
Just imagine an adult Indian elephant (Asian elephant) measures a good three meters
or ten feet in height and the African elephant, four meters or
thirteen feet.
Scientifically, the elephant belongs to the
family Elephantidae in the order Proboscidea. It is
also known as a Pachyderm
the largest living land mammal. It is said to have roamed every
landmass, except Australia and Antarctica, during the Pleistocene
Epoch. Early members of the elephant family included the mastodons
and the mammoths. |
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Two species of elephants that have survived are the Indian elephant
(Elephas maximus) of India and Southeast Asia, and the
African elephant (Loxodonta africana), from the south of the
Sahara. These species are now to be found in the tropical forests,
savannas, deserts and river valleys.
The most fascinating part of the elephant is its trunk. It is a
boneless muscular part. In actuality, the trunk is an elongated
upper lip and nose used to convey food and water to the mouth. An
elephant uses its trunk to pull down trees, rip off foliage, draw up
dust and water for bathing and to smell danger.
The last function is particularly useful to the elephant, as it has
very poor eyesight. With their nasal passages, they produce sounds
below the range of human hearing, which they use to communicate with
one another over long distances too. It is interesting to know how
an elephant communicates its anger. When it is angry, an elephant
will raise its earflaps. This makes its head and face appear much
bigger than its actual size, which in turn frightens enemies and
opponents.
An elephant’s teeth are its two tusks, which are firmly embedded in
its skull. The tusks are its upper incisors. They come in handy when
the tasks to be performed are digging, fighting, and picking up
heavy objects. Cow elephants have tusks too; they have small tusks
that remain behind the trunk.
The gestation period for an elephant is around twenty-one months,
after which the calf is born. They mature after fifteen years. Cow
elephants are capable of producing between five and twelve calves in
its lifetime.
An elephant’s life span is about seventy years.
Elephants are gregarious by nature and move about in herds. Old cows
usually lead the herds. Usually, an old bull is present in every
herd.
The African elephant can be distinguished from the Indian elephant
by its greater size and larger ears. Its skin is more wrinkled. It
is tallest at the shoulder, whereas the Indian elephant is tallest
at the arch of the back. African elephants have a rounded forehead
and a hollow back. There are two lips at the tip of the trunk in an
African elephant.
Despite their bulk, elephants walk almost noiselessly. It is gifted
with a natural shock absorber. A thick cushion of resilient tissue
on the base of the foot absorbs the shock of its weight when it
walks. Elephants can also swim for long distances. |
