Interesting facts about elephants. ​50 most interesting facts about elephants Interesting facts about elephants for children

Ten incredible facts about elephants you never knew existed.

1. There are 10 species of elephants in the world. Until 2010, only 2 of them were scientifically substantiated. However, genetic testing has shown that at least 3 other species exist. Among them: asian elephant alphas maximus, African savannah elephant loxodonta Africana and African forest elephant elephant loxodonta cyclones
The Asian elephant is the smallest and has small ears and tusks, as well as two protruding bumps on its forehead. They hold their heads straighter than African elephants and do not have a protruding upper lip.

2. Homosexual relationships between elephants have been officially confirmed; unlike females, who are capable of conceiving only once a year, males are into this throughout the year. Elephants' pregnancy lasts 22 months, the longest of any animal on the planet. A baby elephant weighs about 100 kg at birth.

3. Female elephants live in groups of 10 individuals, while males are predominantly solitary. Elephant herds are considered one of the most close-knit communities among living things. The female leaves the herd only if she feels that she is dying or if she is caught by people.

4. Although no one has ever seen an elephant graveyard, it is a widely known fact that elephants and humans are the only creatures on the planet that pay tribute to their dead comrades. Elephants typically live 60-80 years. If an elephant gets sick, the herd members take care of it in every possible way and bring food. If it dies, they try to revive it for a while with food and water, and then they dig a shallow grave and cover the dead elephant with branches.

5. At different times, up to 40 species of elephants existed on the planet. Most of them flourished until the end of the last ice age, which ended 12,500 years ago. These creatures are generally close in size to modern Asian elephants, although there have been tiny elephants, only 1 meter tall.

6. The most famous and largest of the elephants was an elephant named Jumbo. He was born in 1861 and was taken to a French zoo. He was then resold to a British zoo, and after that he was sent to the USA. His popularity among the population was so great that a letter was sent to the Queen of England on behalf of 100,000 children who asked not to give up the elephant. In the United States, an elephant died at the age of 24 as a result of a collision with a train. Its height at the time of death reached 4 meters.

7. Just like people, elephants are born toothless. IN childhood they grow milk tusks, and then they are replaced by permanent ones. When one of the couples permanent teeth erased, they are replaced by the next one. An elephant can change up to 7 pairs of tusks throughout its life. When last pair The tusks wear out completely, and the elephants die of hunger because they can no longer obtain food with them.

8. In terms of dexterity, an elephant trunk is similar to an octopus tentacle. It allows the elephant to freely manipulate almost any simple tools. Many elephants were trained to draw and open locks.

9. Elephants have 5 toes on each foot, but not every species of elephant has nails. The African forest elephant and Asian bush elephant have 5 nails on the front legs and 4 on the hind legs, while the African bush elephant has 4-5 on the front legs and 3 on the hind legs.

10. Elephants are one of the smartest animals on Earth. Their brain weighs 5 kg and is more complex than other animals, with the exception of whales. Elephants are capable of experiencing feelings of joy, grief, compassion, are capable of cooperation, and have excellent learning and tool-using abilities.

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

Elephant - description, characteristics and photos.

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 savannah ones, often weigh up to 10 - 12 tons. The powerful body of the elephant is covered with thick (up to 2.5 cm) skin of brown or gray with deep wrinkles. Elephant calves are born with sparse bristles, while adults are practically devoid of vegetation.

The head of the animal is quite large with ears of remarkable size. Elephant ears have a fairly large surface area; 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 leg has 2 kneecaps. This structure makes the elephant the only mammal that cannot jump. In the center of the foot there is a pad of fat that springs with every step, which allows these powerful animals to move almost silently.

The elephant's trunk is an amazing and unique organ formed by a fused nose and upper lip. Tendons and more than 100 thousand muscles make it strong and flexible. The trunk performs a series important functions, while simultaneously providing the animal with breathing, smell, touch and grasping food. Through their trunks, elephants protect themselves, water themselves, eat, communicate, and even raise their offspring. Another “attribute” of appearance is the elephant’s tusks. They grow throughout life: the more powerful the tusks, the older their owner.

An elephant's tail is about the same length as its hind legs. The tip of the tail is framed by coarse hair, which helps repel insects. The elephant's voice is specific. The sounds that an adult animal makes are called grunts, moos, whispers and elephant roars. The lifespan 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 short distances, the elephant's speed sometimes increases to 50 km/h.

Types of elephants.

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). It is smaller than the Savannah, but has a more powerful build and short legs. Color - from brown to dark gray. Distinctive feature This type of elephant has small quadrangular-shaped ears and one appendage at the end of the trunk. The Indian or Asian elephant is common in tropical and subtropical forests India, China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Indian elephant

Where and how do elephants live?

African elephants live almost throughout the entire territory of hot Africa: in Namibia and Senegal, in Kenya and Zimbabwe, in Guinea and the Republic of Congo, in Sudan and South Africa, elephants feel great in Zambia and Somalia. The bulk 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 landscape, but tries to avoid desert areas and too dense tropical forests, preferring the savannah zone.

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

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

At the zoo, elephants are fed hay and greens (in large quantities), and also give the animals vegetables, fruits, root vegetables: cabbage, apples, beets, watermelons, boiled oats, bran, willow branches, bread, as well as elephants’ favorite delicacy, bananas and other crops. Per day in wildlife 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.

Adults are well-known water-suckers. An elephant drinks about 100-300 liters of water per day, so these animals are almost always located 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, and at the age of 16 she is ready to bear offspring. Sexually mature males leave the herd at the age of 15-20 years (African males at 25 years old) and become loners. Every year, males fall into an aggressive state caused by an increase in testosterone, which lasts about 2 months, so quite serious clashes between clans, ending in injuries and mutilations, are not uncommon. True, this fact has its own plus: competition with experienced brothers stops young male elephants from early mating.

Elephants reproduce regardless of the season. A male elephant approaches the herd when he feels the female is ready to mate. Loyal to each other in normal times, the males organize mating fights, as a result of which the winner is allowed to the female. An elephant's pregnancy lasts 20-22 months. The birth of an elephant takes place in a society created by the females of the herd, surrounding and protecting the woman in labor from random danger. Usually one baby elephant weighing about a hundredweight is born, sometimes there are twins. After just 2 hours, the newborn elephant stands on its feet and happily sucks its mother’s milk. After a few days, the cub easily travels with its relatives, grabbing its mother’s tail with its trunk. Feeding with milk lasts up to 1.5-2 years, and all lactating females participate in the process. By 6-7 months, plant foods are added to the milk.

There are about 500 thousand in the world African elephants and approximately 35-50 thousand Asian. These large, intelligent animals have served humans for peaceful and military purposes since ancient times. Aristotle wrote about them: “The elephant is an amazing animal that surpasses others in wit and intelligence.”

Some general facts

Elephants are the largest of all land animals; their weight reaches 5 tons, and their body length is up to 7 meters. Although there were record holders, they killed in Angola in 1956 African elephant, which weighed 11 tons.
. An elephant's brain weighs 5 kg, and its heart weighs about 30 kg. The normal beat frequency is 30 beats per minute.
. Elephants live up to 70 years, but there are also centenarians. For example, a war elephant from China lived to be 86 years old and died in 2003.
. In nature, elephants have to search for food almost all day long. They eat from 45 to 450 kg of vegetation per day and drink up to 300 liters of water.

The most expressive part of the face, the trunk, is actually an extension of the upper lip. Elephants use their trunks to say hello, take objects, wash themselves, and even draw.

Almost a bucket of water can fit in the trunk of an adult animal; in addition, there are more than 45 thousand olfactory receptors, so elephants have a very good sense of smell.

Like people, elephants are either right-handed or left-handed. For example, a right-handed elephant works more with its right tusk, so it is an order of magnitude smaller than the left one.
. Elephants grow tusks throughout their lives and are an indicator of age. In addition to length, they can also differ in shape and location.
. The tusks grow at a rate of 18 meters per year.

Due to its excellent appetite, an elephant’s teeth wear out very quickly, so they change during their life not twice, like in humans and most animals, but up to 7 times.
. When the last teeth wear out, the elephant is helped to feed by the herd, and loners, as a rule, die of hunger.

Elephants are thick-skinned in the truest sense of the word. The thickness of the skin in some places reaches 4 cm.
. Elephants are excellent swimmers, but they cannot run or jump. They have two types of gait: just walking and fast walking. Their usual speed of movement is 2-6 km/h, in case of danger they can “run away” up to 40 km/h.

Family

Elephants are family animals, and several families often form one herd, in which matriarchy always reigns. The oldest and most experienced elephant becomes the head of the herd. Young elephants live in a family with their parents until they are 15 years old, and then create their own.

Elephants mating all year round, but a female can conceive a baby only a few days a year. During this period, males are especially active in courting her, resorting to mating games and rituals. If the female likes it, she responds with the same actions.

An elephant carries her baby for 22 months; a newborn baby weighs almost 120 kg.

Taming of the Shrew

Undoubtedly, elephants are very smart animals, but they are also quite dangerous, especially males during a hormonal surge. At this time, their testosterone levels increase 60 times. Submission and obedience from elephants can only be achieved through education and training from early childhood.

There is one common method. The leg of a small elephant calf is tied to a tree trunk, and as the animal grows, it gets used to the fact that it is impossible to free itself from this state. Therefore, it is enough to tie an adult elephant to a young bush; it will not try to escape.

Funeral rite

When someone from their herd dies, the elephants loudly trumpet it to the whole area, and then roll the body to the nearest depression, cover it with branches and cover it with earth. Some elephants may remain near the body for several days. You can also find references to the fact that elephants take tusks and some bones from the burial site and transfer them to the place of death of their brother. There have been cases where elephants have tried to bury other dead animals or people.

Elephant cemetery?

The tusks of dead elephants are very rarely found, which is why it was previously believed that animals go to a mysterious elephant cemetery to die. One could only guess where it is and what it looks like, but in the last century scientists debunked this myth. It turns out that porcupines eat elephant tusks, thus replenishing their mineral reserves after the rainy season.

Who's speaking? Elephant!

It is believed that elephants communicate with each other using infrasound, so for a long time their conversation was a mystery. A recent study by a scientist from Vienna has proven that elephants use vocal cords. At the same time, their lexicon"is very diverse, the scientist counted almost 500 different stable sound signals.

Some elephants can imitate human speech. For example, an elephant named Koshek was able to learn as many as 5 words: sit, hello, no, lie down and good, albeit in Korean. And according to eyewitnesses, he doesn’t just repeat sounds, he speaks very consciously in the right situation.

Elephant is the largest land mammal. Today there are three species of these animals: the Indian elephant, the African savanna and the African forest. The maximum recorded weight of an elephant is 12,240 kg, while the average body weight of these animals is about 5 tons. What other interesting facts do you know about elephants? Want to know more about these animals? Then read on.

How long does an elephant live?

The lifespan of an elephant is influenced by its living conditions. In natural conditions, animals constantly face dangers, in particular drought and poachers who kill elephants for their valuable tusks. Until the age of 8-10 years, small elephants cannot defend themselves on their own and if their mother dies, they die from predators. in nature? The average age is from 60 to 70 years.

At the same time, long-livers are known among animals living in captivity. Most old elephant named Lin Wang lived 86 years (1917-2003). He participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War, then in the construction of monuments, performed in the circus, but lived most of his life at the Taipei Zoo in Taiwan. Lin Wang was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the elephant that survived the longest in captivity.

How long does an elephant's pregnancy last?

Interestingly, a female elephant is capable of conceiving only a few days a year, despite the fact that mating between animals can occur all year round. Amazing fact is also the fact that, on this basis, large mammals are record holders among all animals on earth. The female's pregnancy lasts 22 months, that is, almost 2 years.

After this period, a baby elephant is born, which can hardly be called small. The weight of a baby elephant is 120 kg. Childbirth usually occurs without complications. Babies are born blind and often suck on their trunk, like a human - thumb. But no matter how strong the animal is born, it is quite helpless and requires protection from predators. Only at the age of 15 years does the animal become an adult and can create its own family.

How much does an elephant eat?

Under natural conditions, the elephant's diet includes leaves and grass containing a high percentage of moisture. Depending on the dry and rainy season, it may also feed on bark and fruits various trees and bushes. Considering the size of the animal, it is not at all surprising how much an elephant eats. Moreover, he spends up to 16 hours on this. Every day an animal eats from 45 to 450 kg of plant food, on average about 300 kg.

How much does an elephant eat natural conditions. In captivity, their diet includes hay (30 kg), carrots (10 kg) and bread (5-10 kg). They can also be given grain and various mineral and vitamin complexes to compensate for the deficiency. useful substances. Elephants drink about 100-300 liters per day. If an animal begins to drink more, as a rule, this indicates some kind of disease. With tuberculosis, an elephant can drink up to 600 liters of water per day.

Trunk, tusks and ears

What is known about the elephant's trunk? Let's present some interesting facts about this organ:

• the trunk is part of the elephant's nose, but does not have a nasal bone;
• the long and flexible trunk consists of 150 thousand different muscles that control it;
• with the help of its trunk, an elephant can suck up to 8 liters of water at a time and then send it into the mouth;
• animals use the elephant trunk only to collect water, but do not drink with it (if they tried to drink through it, it would cause the same cough reflex as in humans);
• with the help of its trunk, an elephant can lift up to 350 tons of food;
• trunk length is about 150 cm;
• thanks to their trunk, elephants can easily swim across deep rivers- this organ serves as a built-in oxygen tube for them, the tip of which they hold above the water, while their body is completely immersed in the river.

Elephants use not only their trunks, but also their tusks to dig and lift heavy objects. The length of the tusks of African elephants can reach 2.5 m, and their weight can reach 100 kg. During sleep, the old elephant places its tusks on the branches of trees or bushes, but in captivity, it pushes them into the openings of the lattice or rests them against the wall.

One elephant ear weighs 85 kg. This part of their body is an excellent thermoregulator. When the air temperature reaches 40 °C and the animal is hot, it actively flaps its ears like propellers. In rain and strong winds, the elephant, on the contrary, presses its ears tightly to its head.

Are elephants afraid of mice?

The assertion that elephants are afraid of mice appeared in ancient times thanks to the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder. In one of his works, he wrote that elephants are larger than other animals and rats.

Modern scientists have completely refuted the discovery of their “colleague”. Their research proved that an elephant and a mouse could easily live side by side, if not for one “but”. The fact is that the elephant, as a slow animal, is irritated by any sudden movements in its direction. Even if a dog just runs or a snake crawls quickly, this will make him very worried. If you show an elephant a mouse sitting peacefully on your hand, he will not react to it in any way, and if it crawls into his trunk, the elephant will simply shake it out with a sharp movement.

Thus, scientists have proven that the statement that elephants are afraid of mice is just a myth.

Smart animals

Elephants are self-aware and can recognize their reflection in the mirror, just like dolphins and some species of monkeys. Animals are some of the smartest on earth.

Interesting Facts about elephants, confirming them high level intelligence:

• Their brain weighs 5 kg, which is more than that of other animals.
• Elephants are capable of expressing any emotion, including joy, sadness, and compassion. This animal can save a trapped dog even at the cost of its own life.
• The elephant has unique abilities to learning, he repeats people's commands and reproduces them.
• Elephants use 470 sustained signals to communicate. Using ultrasound, they warn each other about dangers.
• Elephants observe burial rituals. They bury the deceased member of the herd, covering it with stones, after which they sit in place for several days, expressing grief.

Some more interesting facts about elephants

These are not all the features of the life of elephants that can surprise you. Below are some more interesting facts about elephants:

• An elephant's sense of smell is 4 times stronger than that of a sniffer dog, thanks to the million receptor cells located in the animal's upper nasal cavity.
• But elephants' vision is not so sharp. They can see an object only at a distance of 20-25 m. In ancient times, hunters sat on the back of a tamed elephant and penetrated into the middle of the herd, looking for prey.
• An elephant's heart weighs 20 kg and beats at a speed of 30 beats per minute.
• Elephants change teeth 6-7 times during their life.
• Among the elephants there are both right-handers and left-handers. This is determined by the tusk with which the animal prefers to work.
• Elephants sleep on average 2-3 hours a day, and spend most of their time searching for food and eating it.

There are up to half a million African elephants in the world; Asian elephants are about 10 times smaller. As you know, elephants are large and very intelligent animals, which have served humans for peaceful and military purposes since ancient times.

Giants

Elephants are the most gigantic land animals on Earth. Average weight they reach five tons, and the body length is 6-7 meters. In 1956, an elephant weighing 11 tons was killed in Angola.

A female elephant carries a baby for 22 months, the newborn weighs 120 kilograms.

The brain of an elephant weighs 5 kilograms, the heart - 20-30 kilograms. It beats at a frequency of 30 beats per minute.

To feed such a “colossus”, an elephant has to look for food and eat most of the day, at least 20 hours. An elephant eats from 45 to 450 kilograms of plant food per day and drinks from 100 to 300 liters of water.

Elephants live 50-70 years. But there are also reporters. War elephant (served in the Chinese army) Lin Wang from Taiwan died in 2003 at the age of 86.

Smarties

Aristotle wrote: “The elephant is an animal that surpasses all others in wit and intelligence.” Elephants really have a lot good memory And developed intelligence. Elephants also turned out to be capable of learning human language.

An elephant named Kaushik, living in Asia, has learned to imitate human speech, or rather, five words: annyong (hello), anja (sit), aniya (no), nuo (lie down) and choah (good).

Kaushik not only mindlessly repeats them, but, according to observers, understands their meaning, since these are either commands that he carries out, or words of encouragement and disapproval.

Communication

Elephants usually communicate using infrasound, so for a long time the elephant language remained unsolved. Research by Christian Herbst of the University of Vienna on the larynx of a dead elephant showed that elephants use their vocal cords to communicate.

The “vocabulary” of the elephant language turned out to be quite rich - Herbst recorded about 470 different stable signals that elephants use.

They can use them to communicate with each other over long distances, warn of danger, report births, and use various addresses to members of the herd, depending on their position in the hierarchy.

Trunk

An elephant's trunk is actually an extension of its upper lip. With the help of their trunk, elephants make tactile contact, say hello, can take objects, draw, drink and wash themselves. The trunk of the trunk can simultaneously hold up to eight liters of water. The trunk also has more than 40,000 receptors. Elephants have a very good sense of smell.

Tusks

Elephants, like people, can be left-handed or right-handed. Depending on which tusk the elephant works more, one of them becomes smaller.

Over the past century and a half average length Elephant tusk production in both Africa and India has halved.

This is due to the fact that the largest representatives of the population become victims of poachers, and the length of the tusks is a genetically inherited trait.

The tusks of deceased elephants are extremely rare to find. Because of this, for a long time there was an opinion that elephants go to die on mysterious elephant cemeteries. Only in the last century it was discovered that porcupines eat tusks, thus compensating for mineral hunger.

Taming the Elephants

Elephants, although intelligent animals, can also be dangerous. Male elephants periodically go through a state of so-called “must”. At this time, the level of testosterone in the blood of animals is 60 times higher than normal.

In order to achieve balance and obedience in elephants, they begin to be trained from early childhood.

One of the most effective methods like this: a baby elephant’s leg is tied to a tree trunk. Gradually he gets used to the fact that it is impossible to free himself from this state. When the animal grows up, it is enough to tie it to a young tree, and the elephant will not try to free itself.

Funeral rite

Elephants not only have high levels of intelligence, but also sensitive hearts. When someone from an elephant family dies, his relatives lift him up with their trunks, loudly turbulate him, and then roll him to a depression and cover him with branches and throw earth at him. Then the elephants sit silently next to the body for several more days.

There are also cases where elephants also try to bury people, sometimes mistaking sleeping people for dead.